The latest video from Manitou Productions takes a look at circuit bending the Talk ‘N Learn Alphabet, a vintage multimedia learning toy.

The thing is wonky to begin with, and the video explores how to make it even wonkier. As they note, “The alphabet never sounded so scary!”

At the end, a fully circuit bent version is demonstrated.

Old learning toys are popular for circuit bending, because they’re battery-powered, so the biggest risk is that you’ll fry the circuitry.

Topics covered:

0:00 Did I do that?
0:07 Titles
0:15 Intro
1:04 Let’s turn it on!
2:04 The alphabet through a tiny speaker
3:28 Some melodies
4:46 Let’s open it up!
6:10 Hen scratches
6:37 Not happy
7:49 Bad battery experiments
10:15 Try button
10:53 Demonstrating pitch modifications
13:53 Dodgy switch
14:49 Chipmunks
15:35 The modified version
16:22 Demonstrating the body contacts
17:34 The pitch knob
19:24 The release switch
22:06 A look at the innards
23:10 Outro
23:35 Ivy’s Corner

If you’ve circuit bent an old toy, share your experience in the comments!